Critics say that the government only takes steps that are visible to the people, like the metro buses, laptops and loan schemes.
The incumbent government is about to complete two years in office and claims to have improved the economy but the ground realities indicate harsh times for the people. In the general elections of 2013, this government promised to end power cuts within six months, improve law and order and reduce prices but its priorities have changed after coming to power. Pakistan faces a power shortfall of about 5,000 megawatts and, in the last few years, energy deficits have soared to 8,500 megawatts in the summers. The rural and urban areas only receive a few hours of electricity a day. A few months ago, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had projected a gap of over 5,500 megawatts between the supply and demand of electricity and had forecast that the situation was likely to improve by 2019-2020. This report not only rejects the government’s claims of a load shedding-free Pakistan by 2017 but also predicts tough times for the people and industry.
According to experts, the power cuts would badly affect government candidates in the forthcoming local bodies elections. The problems of the people have multiplied in the tenure of the PML-N. Fuel prices have been coming down for some time but they have again increased but on the other hand rates of food items remain unchanged. According to a recent report, the government has failed to control poverty, inflation and unemployment. The report, released by a non-governmental organisation, said that the government could not achieve targets for better disaster management, foreign policy and making a merit based policy for hiring and promotions.
It has succeeded in achieving only 60 percent of these targets. The government has performed the worst in its efforts to control poverty. Only 22 percent of targets were achieved in the government's efforts to decrease poverty. It could achieve only 37 percent targets in controlling inflation. Regulatory departments have failed to perform their duties because the government has failed to transfer power to the grassroots level. Regulatory departments have achieved only 38 percent of targets. Only 32 percent targets could be achieved in the fields of healthcare, environment protection and the recoveries of utility bills and only 45 percent of targets were achieved in tax recoveries. It could achieve only 33 percent of targets for population control.
According to an official survey, Pakistan could not increase its literacy rate in 2013 and 2014, which has dropped to 58 percent because of a poor showing by the Sindh and Balochistan governments. The overall literacy rate, estimated to be 60 percent in 2012-2013, has gone down according to Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM). The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) carried out a survey from August 2013 to June 2014. The report provides information on key social indicators at the national and provincial levels with urban and rural breakdowns. The four provincial and federal governments spent Rs 537.6 billion, 2.1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013-2014, highlighting the urgency to double the spending to address the root causes that keep children away from schools.
The survey results also suggest the number of children going to primary schools has also dropped. The findings show that the parents' refusal to send their children to schools was the single biggest reason for children not going to schools, keeping four out of 10 children out of schools. Two out of every 10 children did not go to schools because the education was too expensive. Under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Pakistan was required to increase its literacy rate to 88 percent by 2015. There has also been a deterioration in the availability of basic health facilities and the proportion of the population having access to clean water has also dropped. Only 55 percent of the population has access to sustainable water sources — down from 57 percent since last year. The country has missed the MDG goal of increasing this ratio to 93 percent. When compared with 2011-2012, the last surveyed year, the literacy rate in 2013-2014 remained stagnant at 58 percent. The male and female literacy rates have also stood still at 70 percent and 47 percent respectively.
Critics say that the government only takes steps that are visible to the people, like the metro buses, laptops and loan schemes. It has largely ignored education and health. The government's priorities should have been health and education, not roads and bridges. The people wanted relief from the elected politicians. The government should deliver now or the people will lose faith in democracy. I will not hesitate in saying that the political parties only represent the interests of different sections of the ruling elite. I believe that the working classes need an alternative left party and a programme to replace this corrupt and inept political system that does not represent their interests. For a true democracy, we have to change the culture along with the system.
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